Seat for a bench



March 4, 1969 P. G. ANDERSON SEAT FOR A BENCH Filed Jan. 23, 1967 INVENTOR: PAUL G. ANDERSON iii.

AT TOR/V5 Y United States Patent Office 3,431,023 Patented Mar. 4, 1969 3,431,023 SEAT FOR A BENCH Paul G. Anderson, Ontario, Califi, assignor of thirty-three and one-third percent each to Freeman A. Parsons and Floyd H. Wells, San Bernardino, Calif.

Filed Jan. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 610,839

US. Cl. 297452 Int. Cl. A47c 7/16, 27/12, 31/00 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Wooden planks have been used for years as bench seats and backs in both indoor and outdoor stadiums. Maintenance costs of painting and replacement are particularly high in such benches that are exposed to continuing variations in ambient moisture. Repetitive wet and dry weather cycles, in which moisture migrates between the interior and the exterior of the plank through the paint, lead to splintered and chipped bench seats and backs which must be replaced or refinished. I have invented a seat or back for benches which is largely impervious to moisture deterioration and which is more resilient and therefore more comfortable than the conventional wooden plank bench member.

STATEMENT OF INVENTION The invention contemplates a bench member adapted to be supported by braces horizontally spaced along the line of the bench. The bench seat or back comprises an elongate tubular member whose bottom or back wall may be thicker than the load bearing and side walls of the tube, with inner transversely spaced ribs extending from the bottom or back walls of the tubular member. A pad support coextensive in length with the tubular member extends transversely of the member upon the inner ribs parallel to and spaced from the load bearing wall of the member. A resilient pad lodges between the pad support and the load bearing wall of the seat member. The tubular bench member, the inner ribs and the pad support may all be extruded or otherwise formed in one piece from Fiberglas or like materials with newly developed methods. Alternatively, the load bearing and side walls of the seat member and the inner ribs may be a single shaped piece to which separate thickened bottom or back wall and pad support are attached. Preferably the pad support is free to shift with respect to the upper surfaces of the inner ribs so that the ribs may act as resilient members to enhance the pads cushioning effect.

Preferably the outer surfaces of the seat member are of Fiberglas. Other plastic materials of similar heat and moisture resistance may be used. It is preferred to coat the outer portion of the Fiberglas with a thin layer of suitable resin to prevent blooming or weathering, assuring a permanently smooth seating surface. Preferably the resilient pad is thicker at its center so that the top or front wall is normally arched to shed water.

The seat of the invention may be extruded or otherwise formed in lengths of considerable extent. Such lengths may be cut to the length desirable in the particular seating arrangement to which the bench seat of the invention is being applied. Since the seat of the invention is practically impervious to weather and is protected against impact by the resilient inner pad, it is economically far superior to the conventional seats now available. These and other advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description and drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevation, partly broken away, of a bench seat of the invention in place upon a horizontal support;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation similar to FIG. 2 of an alternate seat embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevation similar to FIG. 2 showing the preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the various views like parts are smilarly numbered.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 a tubular seat member 9 is secured to a horizontal brace 10 which has a downwardly depending angle component 11 and an upwardly extending back rest support 12. The brace is secured by conventional means (not shown) to the concrete of the stadium or other wall surface of the particular auditorium in which the bench is utilized. A bench back (not shown) in accordance with the invention may be fixed to rest supports lke support l2 above the seat.

The tubular seat member comprises a top wall 13 which is normally arched in configuration because of the upward pressure of a resilient pad 14 adjacent an underside 15 of the top wall. The resilient pad is preferably a cotton batt dipped in liquid latex such that the fibers of the batt have resilience. The pad rests upon a pad support 17 which, like the pad, is coexistensive in length with the top wall of the seat member.

Apair of transversely spaced inner ribs 18, 19 rise from a thickened bottom wall 21 of the seat member to uphold the support pad. Side walls 22, 23 connect the top and bottom walls. The bottom Wall of the seat member is secured to horizontal brace 10 as by blind rivets 24.

A cap closure 26 may be fixed to the hollow end of the seat member where the seat terminates. Each seat member may be of sufiicient length to extend across several horizontal supports or braces 10.

When the load is imposed by use upon the bench seat of FIGS. 1 and 2, a portion of the load is absorbed by the distortion of resilient seat pad 14. Inner ribs 18 and 19 may also be distorted transversely and absorb load due to their relationship to pad support 17. The material of the inner ribs is preferably deformable so that the ribs and the pad support may be displaced transversely to increase the space between the seat member top and the pad support to facilitate insertion of the support pad into the seat member.

In FIG. 3 an alternate tubular seat member 27 has a top wall 13, side walls 22 and 23 and a bottom wall 21 which may be thicker than the top and side walls. Transversely spaced ribs 18, 19 rise from bottom wall 21. Each rib has an arcu-ate top flange 28, 29, respectively. The top, side and bottom walls and the ribs and flanges are integral, preferably extruded in long lengths from reinforced plastic such as Fiberglas.

A pad support 30, which may be of any suitable enduring material such as metal or plastic, rests upon the rib flanges. The pad support is free to move with respect to the flanges and is substantially coexistensive with top wall 13. A resilient pad 14 lies between pad support 30 and underside 15 of wall 13. The freedom of the support with respect to the ribs enables the ribs to more freely respond to imposed loads than do the tied-together ribs of the embodiment of FIG. 2, resulting in a more resilient seat assembly for the same pad thickness.

3 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention wherein a tubular seat member 31 rests upon spaced horizontal braces, such as brace 10. Seat member 31 is comprised of an arched top wall 33, substantially vertical side walls 34, 35, inner ribs 36, 37, and bottom portions 38, 39 joining the ribs and the side walls. Rib flanges 41, 42 extend outwardly within the tubular seat member to afford support to an independent pad support 44. A bottom seat member wall 46 is secured to the bottom portions of the seat member as by rivets 48. An epoxy adhesive may also be used to insure a continuous bond. Blind rivets 49 may secure the tubular seat member thus defined to a plurality of spaced braces like brace 10.

As in the previous embodiment, a resilient pad 14 intervenes between pad support 44 and top wall 31 of the seat member.

While it is preferred that seat member 31 be of Fiberglas, pad support 44 and bottom member 46 may be of other enduring thermosetting plastic materials.

In use, the embodiment of FIGURE 4 responds to seat loading similarly to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. The resilient pad distorts to absorb part of the load and the pad support is free to distribute some load to vertical ribs 36, 37. In the embodiment of FIG. 4 the ribs are freerer to move under loading because the pad support is not fixedly secured to rib flanges 41, 42. This freedom results in greater load absorbency by the ribs such that a thinner pad 14 may be used with the embodiment of FIG. 4 than with the embodiment of FIG. 2.

The invention affords bench seats and backs for indoor and outdoor use which have more comfort, more durability and substantially less maintenance cost than conventional bench members. The embodiments shown are illustrative only, since many variations within the scope of the invention will occur to those skilled in this particular art. It is, therefore, my desire that the invention be measured by the appended claims, rather than by the purely illustrative foregoing disclosure.

I claim:

1. A bench member adapted to be supported by braces horizontally spaced along the line of bench extent comprising an elongate tubular bench member having a load bearing wall, side walls and an obverse wall; inner transversely spaced ribs extending from the obverse wall of the bench member, a pad support extending transversely of the bench member on the inner ribs parallel to and spaced from the load bearing wall of the member, and a resilient pad lodged between the pad support and the load bearing wall of the bench member.

2. A bench member in accordance with claim 1 further comprising a support flange on each inner rib extending the length of the seat member, said flange curving outwardly from the rib, the pad support being movably supported upon the flanges.

3. A bench seat in accordance with claim 1 wherein the resilient pad has a transverse configuration such that the load bearing wall of the tubular seat member is caused to arch transversely such that moisture drains from the center to the edge of said wall.

4. A bench seat adapted to be supported by horizontal braces horizontally spaced along the line of the extent of the seat and comprising an elongate tubular seat member having a top wall, parallel side walls and a thickened bottom wall connected to the top wall by the side walls; inner transversely spaced ribs rising from the bottom wall; a pad support extending transversely of the seat member over the inner ribs parallel to and spaced from the top wall of the seat member, said pad support being free to move within the confines of the seat member with respect to the inner ribs; and a resilient pad supported on the pad support adjacent the top wall of the seat member, said resilient pad tapering transversely from its center to its edges such that the top wall is arched from center to side edge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,222,698 12/ 1965 Levenson 297-452 X 3,261,037 7/1966 Cermak et a1 297-452 X 3,280,410 10/1966 Probst et al. 297-452 X CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

